News

A Powerful, Thoughtful, Engaging Discussion

Mixed Magic Theatre thanks all who participated in and or attended the dynamic week of events leading up to and culminating in a powerful,thoughtful and engaging discussion about theatre and race at The Role of the Theater in the Conversation on Race in America forum hosted by Mixed Magic Theatre and Rhode Island College,October 10th at RIC , with support from the Rhode Island Foundation and RISCA.

The NEA Visits Mixed Magic, July 1st, 2015

Congratulations to Ricardo & Bernadet Pitts-Wiley!

A much-deserved Special Distinction Award from the Pawtucket Foundation to our very own co-founders Ricardo and Bernadet Pitts-Wiley. Pictured with Pawtucket Foundation co-chair and Mixed Magic board member Kevin Tracy.

Making Mixed Magic

When you talk to Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, the actor, writer, director and co-founder of Mixed Magic Theatre here in nearby Pawtucket, you quickly realize this is a man who does not take the arts lightly. He is a true believer in the power of theatre to transform and feels this has never been more important than in these troubling times of Ferguson and Baltimore. “The arts can play a critical role in bridging the gap between inner city minority youth and the rest of our society, I believe,” he maintains. And from the end of May into June, his theatre will be showcasing a number of their successful presentations as proof. (Read More Here)

In play about the past, racial tensions of today

Ricardo Pitts-Wiley’s ‘Reflections’ offers his 7 rules for how black men should interact with police
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Late in his life, Ricardo Pitts-Wiley is staging a play about his youth.

On a small stage in an old mill, the 61-year-old playwright and four actors rehearse scenes from his new work, “Reflections: Growing Up As A Black Man in America, Or, If It Was Easy, Everybody Would Do It.”

In the space of an hour they conjure up the turbulent 1960s and 1970s: Motown, the Vietnam War, race riots.

‘Frankenstein’ reanimated at Pawtucket’s Mixed Magic Theatre

Mary Shelley’s horror classic gets a modern twist, exploring issues of ethics, prejudice and the perils of monster-making, in the production that runs May 15-31.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Mixed Magic Theatre’s Ricardo Pitts-Wiley is fond of bringing great literature to the stage, but with a contemporary twist.

Years ago he put together a production of “Moby Dick” that had the white whale serve as a metaphor for crack cocaine. He also adapted Mary Shelley’s youthful novel “Frankenstein,” which he’s remounting through the end of the month at the theater’s new home in Lorraine Mills, in Pawtucket. (Read More Here)

BWW Reviews: Monsters Among Us at Mixed Magic Theatre’s FRANKENSTEIN

There is a very famous episode of the classic TV show TheTwilight Zone called “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street.” The episode dramatizes the concepts of how and why people might turn into monsters. It demands that the viewer ask “who are the real monsters?” and “is it us?” These sorts of questions about monsters and how they are created have been around for many years. One of the most famous, Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein, is now receiving a new and fascinating adaptation at Mixed Magic Theatre. (Read More Here)

Frankenstein: Monster Mash

Victor is continually haunted by the madness he has unleashed upon the world. At the same time, his creature yearns for love, understanding, and knowledge – which Victor is unable or unwilling to provide. Rudy Cabrera effectively conveys Victor’s inner anguish as he realizes he has created something beyond his control. Captain Walton questions Victor about his ethics and wonders if there is a limit to his madness. (Read More Here)

The Diner and Mr. Stone

A homecoming. A funeral. Family secrets. Recipe for disaster, right?

Local playwright Kevin Broccoli’s engaging two-hander, “The Diner and Mr. Stone,” making its premiere at Mixed Magic Theatre, presents a heated and cathartic yet heartfelt, tender conversation between a father and daughter showing how the passage of time does not heal all wounds — it just buries them. (Read More Here)

Remixing Moby Dick

“A remix knows where it comes from,” said Jenkins, noting that Moby-Dick itself is an allusion to the Bible, among other sources. “It’s grounded in history; it’s quoting things for a reason. Plagiarism is simply copying: It tries to mask where it comes from. In my mind, that’s a fundamental, ethical difference between the two. Modern culture is built on remixing.” (Read More Here)

Life, Death and Baseball

If the American Dream came true for everyone, it would need a new name. Splashy stories of success promote the ethos, but there is meaning to be found in the quieter, more common tales of failure, too. Fences, the acclaimed drama by August Wilson, examines the effects of one baseball player’s broken dream in 1950s Pittsburgh. Thirty years after its premiere, the play remains a masterful, moving study of history, legacy, race, loss and hope – as audiences will see on Mixed Magic Theatre’s Pawtucket stage. (Read More Here)

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About Mixed Magic Theatre

Based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Mixed Magic is a 501(c ) (3) arts organization founded in 2000 by Ricardo and Bernadet Pitts-Wiley.
For the past fifteen years, the Company has strived to bring diverse stories and images to the stage through prose and song, tackling both well-known and original theatrical productions.
Under the leadership of new Artistic Director Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, Mixed Magic Theatre continues to pursue excellence and remains committed to its mission:
Weaving together a diversity of images and ideas on stage from across the country and around the world.

The Rhode Island Theater Alliance

Mixed Magic Theatre is proud to be a founding member of the Rhode Island Theatre Alliance. Alongside Cranston’s Epic Theatre and Wakefield’s Contemporary Theater, the Alliance seeks to increase collaboration by way of shared space, resources and performance/technical opportunities.

Check out the Alliance’s Facebook page to learn more, and please “Like” CTC and ETC’s Facebook pages to spread the support.